On September 11There are days that we never forget. There are days that everyone remembers. I still remember the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1944. I was six years old. Everyone was crying. It seemed the whole nation was weeping for the president who had led us out of the Depression and through most of the war. I vividly remember the day that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I was living in
Florida: Appeals Court Reinstates DeSantis’ Absurd Ban on Mask MandatesAn Appeals Court in Florida overruled a lower court and reinstated Governor Ron DeSantis’ ban on face-mask mandates by school districts. The decision overrides not only public health experts but common sense. At the same time, it guts local control, not permitting school districts to protect the health of their students. DeSantis’s hostility to face mask mandates will cause more cases and more de
Jan Resseger: Jeb Bush’s Pitiful Defense of Federal Funding of For-Profit ChartersJan Resseger, a prominent social justice advocate in Ohio, recently wrote about Jeb Bush’s cliche-ridden defense of for-profit charter schools. The House of Representatives passed a budget proposal to prohibit federal funding of them. Jeb Bush is a relentless proponent of privatization: Her commentary was published by the National Education Policy Center. She begins: It’s clear that the charter s
Nancy Flanagan: It’s Time to End Our National Obsession with Test ScoresNancy Flanagan is a retired teacher with decades of experience. In this post, she remembers when she used to take standardized test scores seriously. Then she went to a state board meeting in Michigan, where the topic of discussion was setting cut scores. Cut scores are the lines that determine whether students scored “advanced,” “proficient,” “basic,” or “below basic.” What she learned was that
Beware the Insidious Attack on Your Local School BoardI recently learned of a rightwing website collecting complaints about school boards, presumably to encourage dissension and hostility at school board meetings. The School Board Watchlist (SBWL) is America’s only national grassroots initiative dedicated to protecting our children by exposing radical and false ideologies endorsed by school boards and pushed in the classroom. SBWL finds and exposes
As Schools Reopen, COVID Rates Rise for ChildrenThe Washington Post reported: It’s back-to-school week for many families in the United States — just as coronavirus cases surge among children and teens. Weekly pediatric coronavirus cases surpassed 250,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic, according to the most recent data published by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Its data shows that more than a quarter of weekly reporte
Florida: Court Again Overturns DeSantis’ Ban on Mask MandatesOnce again, Governor DeSantis’ ban on mask mandates was overruled, at least for now. Florida has been hard hit by the Delta variant of COVID yet the Governor doesn’t want school districts to require masking. The state will appeal the ruling, since DeSantis is strongly committed to allowing parents—not schools—to decide whether students should wear masks. The Miami Herald reported: Tallahassee — A
Long Island: Hospital Workers Protest Vaccine MandateHospital workers gathered outside Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, New York, to oppose a vaccination mandate. The hospital leader said that 82% of staff were already vaccinated. They should go into another line of work. They could pick up the virus at work or bring the virus into work. If they refuse to abide by public health requirements, they don’t belong in medical care facilities. tho
Steve Ruis: The Abortion Debate and HypocrisyIn his blog, Uncommon Sense, Steve Ruis examines the hypocrisy of abortion advocates, who insist that everyone must be subject to their religious beliefs. They claim that they believe in the sanctity of life, yet many don’t oppose the death penalty. Many love school choice yet oppose a woman’s choice about her body. Anti-vaxxers carry signs saying “My body, my choice,” yet fight to prevent women
The Rightwing, Fear-Mongering Drive to Capture Local School BoardsNew post on Network for Public Education. Peter Montgomery: The Right-Wing Political Machine Is Out to Take Over School Boards by Fanning Fears of Critical Race Theory Peter Montgomery, writing at Right Wing Watch, lays out some of the behind-the-scenes work going on among some right wing groups. The right-wing campaign to stifle teaching and discussion about racism in U.S. history and institutio
New Hampshire: GOP Plans for Voucher Expansion Before Program StartsEthan DeWitt of the New Hampshire Bulletin and NPR reported on the partisan divide surrounding vouchers. Republicans budgeted for 28 students but expect between 1,000-5,000 to enroll. Democrats worry that the cost of vouchers will spin out of control. Both should worry that the evidence base for the efficacy of vouchers shows high attrition rates and meager or negative academic results. Furthermo
New Hampshire: Republicans Laud New Voucher Program While Ignoring International EvidenceJeanne Diestch, a former Democratic state senator in New Hampshire , recently wrote about the attention showered on the state’s new voucher program by Republican conservatives like Mike Pompeo, a likely Presidential candidate, and Betsy DeVos. Republicans took control of the New Hampshire legislature until 2020; its Governor, Chris Sununu, is a Republican, and he appointed the state’s commissione
Dana Milbank: Texas Shows What a Post-Democracy Society Looks LikeDana Milbank is a regular opinion writer for The Washington Post. As a native Texan, who still has strong emotional ties to the state, I found his analysis to be deeply upsetting. Since the Supreme Court’s decision not to overturn the Texas abortion ban, I can no longer buy anything from Texas, including Tito’s, my favorite vodka. When the anti-vaxxers show up at school board meetings proclaiming
Islip, New York: Six Students Refuse to Obey Mask Mandates, Backed by ParentsNew York State mandated mask-wearing in school. Six students arrived at school in Islip without masks. They were directed to a separate room. Their parents showed up promptly and called the police. This is a story that is repeated, in various ways, in districts across the nation, as parents debate and fight over whether their children should follow public health guidelines. This is the question:
North Carolina: Federal Charter Schools Program Supports Segregation AcademiesCarol Burris dug into federal charter school grants and was appalled by what she discovered in North Carolina. The Charter Schools Program Funds White Flight Schools in North Carolina We were appalled when we saw the list of charter schools funded by federal money through the CSP. The U.S Department of Education awarded a grant to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction that passed th
Chicago: Abandoned Schools, Overcrowded SchoolsMike Klonsky writes about the public schools that were closed by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel (recently appointed as Ambassador to Japan). Emanuel ordered the closure of 50 schools in one day, something never done before by anyone. The reason given was “underutilization.” Now, in the midst of the pandemic, Chicago public schools are overcrowded. Klonsky writes: Back in 2016, there was a plan to turn
Bruce Baker: What Does Research Say about Differences Between Spending of Charter Schools vs. Public Schools?Bruce Baker of Rutgers University is one of the nation’s foremost experts on school funding and spending. He reports here on the differences between charter schools and public schools. Back in the late 1980s, when the charter idea was first promoted, it’s advocates claimed that charters would be more accountable, would produce higher test scores, and would cost less. We now know—30 years later—th
Support Declines for Charters and Vouchers, Especially Among DemocratsCarol Burris, executive director of the Network for Public Education, reports the heartening news that support for school choice has declined in the latest poll by EdNext. EdNext is a pro-choice journal funded by the Hoover Institution and of there pro-choice organizations and individuals. Support for Charters and Vouchers Has Dropped Despite the myth that the pandemic resulted in an increased ap
Mercedes Schneider: After the StormMercedes Schneider teaches high school English in Louisiana. Here is her report on life after Hurricane Ida: Hurricane Ida hit four days ago. I’m able to post this using my phone, which I can recharge by plugging into 200 feet of extension cord coming from my neighbors’ house. (They installed a generator that runs on natural gas just two weeks ago.) it’s 85 degrees in my house, but as a result of
NPE Re-Schedules Annual Meeting Due to COVIDDue to the resurgence of COVID, the Network for Public Education has rescheduled its annual conference, which was planned for October in Philadelphia. Safety first! NPE Re-schedules Conference for March 2022 and More We are so disappointed to announce that we need to re-schedule our NPE/NPE Action conference until next spring. However, we are happy to announce that we have secured a new date– Mar
